Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hi, I was so excited to stumble across a baking blog geared toward baking for 2! I made these cupcakes last week. They are supposed to be red velvet, but I omitted the coloring. As you can see, I didn't frost them either. Although frosting, is the best part of cake, I wanted to try these plain so I could judge the cupcakes on their own. Afterall, what doesn't taste better covered in frosting!

They were ok. Nothing special. I got them from the blog: http://www.dessertfortwo.com/

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Cupcakes

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 egg white

1 teaspoon red food coloring

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon white vinegar

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

Frosting

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a cupcake tin, place 4 cupcake liners on the outside edge.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.

In another bowl, beat together the canola oil, sugar, buttermilk, egg white, red dye, vinegar, and vanilla using an electric mixer.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing all the while.

Divide the batter between the four cupcake liners and bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Beat together all icing ingredients using an electric mixer.

Frost cupcakes when cool. Dust with cocoa powder before serving, if desired.

Apple Pie Filling

I wanted to let you know not to buy this product. If there's caramel in there, I'm the queen of England! What a rip off. The flavor is not great either. Bummer.

Homemade Bread

Here is a picture of a loaf of bread I made a couple weeks ago. I have forgotten what recipe I used. I remember it had buttermilk in it though.

Cream cheese pound cake

Boy, I am seriously doubting my ability to choose a recipe! This sounded soooo good! I love pound cakes. This cake was disappointing. It was dry and the crumb was coarse. I would not make this cake again.

This recipe came from a blog called "lick the bowl good". It was not original to her, but she had already halved the recipe so I used it.


Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Berries adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh berries (I used raspberries and blueberries)

Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with flour. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, 1/2 a cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Place the cake in a cold oven. Turn the oven to 325 degrees F and bake, without opening the oven door, until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert it onto a rack. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Bread Pudding

Good evening!

I made and tasted my first bread pudding tonight and I liked it! I never wanted to make bread pudding because it sounded gross to me. It sounded soggy. And I hate soggy bread. That's why I hate stratas. I had some dried out hamburger buns & a couple slices of stale raisin bread staring at me; so I made bread pudding. I did halved the recipe because I didn't want to get stuck with a big pan of something I'd have to throw out. And I didn't make the sauce - I'm out of brown sugar. What a delightful surprise. I did add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon instead of the 1/4 teaspoon & I tossed in the last of my vanilla which was about 1/4 teaspoon. If you've never tried bread pudding, I encourage you to make this. I bet you'll like it!

The recipe is from www.allrecipes.com

Bread Pudding

3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups whole milk
10 slices hearty farmhouse-style bread,
toasted and cut into cubes
1 cup raisins

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
2.
In a mixing bowl, whisk 3 eggs, white sugar, 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 cup of butter, and 3 cups of whole milk together, and gently stir in the bread cubes and raisins. Lightly spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
3.
Bake in the preheated oven until browned and set in the middle, 50 to 55 minutes; cover the dish with foil after 30 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Let the pudding stand for 10 minutes before serving.
4.
For vanilla sauce, whisk 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, the flour, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 1/4 cups of whole milk,and salt together in a heavy saucepan until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour sauce over warm bread pudding, or serve on the side in a bowl.

Pet Peeve

Am I the only one who gets annoyed at blogs that start out about baking and then inundate the reader with family photos, vacation photos & comments about anything other that baking under the sun?!

I get annoyed because I feel decieved. I signed up for one thing and am given another. Not fair. Not appreciated.

Lemon Souffle

Hi,

I finally made a souffle. I chose a lemon souffle. This dessert was light and not too sweet. It is a dessert you can eat and not feel full or guilty after eating it. It was easy to make. I only made one change, I used strawberries instead of blackberries.

Although this was a nice dessert, I don't think I'll be making anymore souffles. Not enough bang for the buck to me. I like rich, decadent desserts.

I used the recipe found at www.bakingbites.com

Lemon Blackberry Souffles

4 large eggs, divided and at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar + 2 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup milk (any kind)

1/3 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 cup fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 400F.Butter four 6 or 8-oz ramekins. Dust the insides of the ramekins thoroughly with sugar (just as you would if you were flouring the ramekins).In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup flour until well combined. Whisk in milk. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, then whisk in lemon juice. Bring to a boil, still whisking frequently, and remove from heat. Strain into a large bowl and stir in lemon zest. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.In a medium bowl, beat egg whites with a mixer on medium-high speed until foamy. Beat in remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat to stiff peaks. Fold into lemon mixture, working in two or three additions.Divide blackberries evenly into ramekins, almost covering the bottom of each ramekin. Divide lemon mixture even into ramekins. There may be a small amount of lemon mixture left over. Fill the ramekins to the very top and then level each one off with the back of a knife (as you would when measuring sugar).Bake for 16-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.Serve immediately, or allow souffles to cool and fall slightly, then serve chilled with whipped cream.
Serves 4.

Pound cake

Good evening,

Wanted to post about this pound cake I made. Who doesn't like a nice pound cake? This was nice, plain in flavor, nice crumb and texture. No complaints, although next time I think I would do something to change the flavor. Maybe I would add lemon, or almond.

We ate it plain the first night. The next night we topped slices of the cake with chocolate ice cream , hot fudge sauce & a big ol' squirt of whipped cream. Now that was nice!

Here's where I got the recipe: http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/04/condensed-milk-pound-cake.html

Condensed Milk Pound Cake (Recipe by Pichet Ong in The Sweet Spot)

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. unsalted butter

3/4 c. condensed milk

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

3 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325F and generously butter a 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan or three mini loaf pans. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter with the sugar. Add the vanilla. Pour in condensed milk and mix until well combined. Add sifted flour mixture bit by bit while continuing to whisk until completely incorporated. Lastly, add the eggs to the mixture and whisk until well combined. Pour batter into the loaf pan(s). If using three mini pans, it is approximately 1 cup of batter per pan. Bake 1 hour for large loaf and 45 min. for mini loaves. Cake is ready when the top is dark golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

Box cake review

Hi, I made this box cake mix intending for my husband to take it to work to share with his coworkers. It was so awful, I was too embarrassed to send it. My husband didn't like it either. I'm so surprised that this mix was as awful as it was. Duncan Hines is a reputable company & I have used their regular cake mixed more times than I can remember. At first I wasn't going to post about this, but then I thought I should warn other bakers out there. So I dug this box out of the garbage to photograph it. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture of the cake before I threw it out. It did bake up nice, but that's all I can say good about it. So save yourself some disappointment and make the carrot cake from scratch. You won't be sorry.

Pizza

Good evening!

I just have to tell you what delicious pizza dough I just made!!! It's sooooo yummy! You know I am a pizza fanatic, don't you? I could eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner and be happy.

This dough tastes great. It's not tough or chewy.

The only changes I made are substituting bread flour for the wheat flour, kneading,(well, actually, letting the Kitchen Aid knead) it for 7 minutes and then I let it rise for an hour.

Whenever I make pizza, I always preheat my cast iron skillet in a 425 degree oven. I shape the dough and put it right on the skillet, no grease or corn meal needed to keep it from sticking. I then add sauce and toppings. It only takes about 8 minutes to bake.

I got the recipe from: http://www.tammysrecipes.com/cheesy_whole_wheat_vegetable_calzones

Try this, you'll never be satisfied with a frozen pizza again. Trust me.

Dough Ingredients: 1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 to 3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon dry yeast

1. Prepare whole wheat calzone dough by putting ingredients (in order listed) into a large bowl (or bread machine), using about 2 cups of the flour. Stir to combine; continue adding flour and knead mixture with hands to make a smooth, elastic dough. Knead 5 minutes.

Date cake

Hi, I'm back. Just got done moving. My husband got a new job. I forgot how grueling moving is. Especially as I get older.

Got the kitchen all unpacked and was itching to bake something. This date cake is very moist and delicious. It does seen a little overly sweet to me. Maybe a mix of 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar would cut down on the sweetness. I don't know if my pan was an 8 inch instead of 9 inch, but I had just a little too much batter. I filled two jumbo muffin cups with the excess batter and baked them right along with the cake. My cake sunk in the middle after I took it out of the oven. That was my fault though. I didn't do the "stick a tooth pick in and see if it comes out clean".

I liked this cake. It can be found on the mennonite girls can cook blog site.

Enjoy.

Moving

Good morning from my lovely & reasonable hotel room. My oven's been off all week. :( My husband got a new job in a new state & so we're moving! I may be able to bake something by the end of the month. Don't know for sure. Til then, happy baking to you all!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Good chilly morning!!

I got a thick pair of socks on this morning. I don't know where that Spring weather went!

Made a very delicious coffee cake this morning. It's very simple & doesn't call for any strange ingredients. It was moist and delicious. I actually followed the recipe to the letter - and that's unusual for me! You know me, the tweaker! The chocolate chips do not seem esential to me, so if you don't happen to have them, bake the cake anyway. It will still be great.

I am sorry I do not know know where in the vast internet universe I even got this recipe. I am not pretending it is original to me. I admit it is someone else's, I just don't know whose!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup chocolate chips



3 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
3 tbsp butter, chilled

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan (a springform is a good choice).
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract. Mix in half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir only until no streaks of flour remain, then stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan, then prepare the topping.

In a small or medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and salt. Cut butter into several chunks and add to flour mixture. Rub in with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse sand. Sprinkle evenly onto cake batter already in pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes in a 9-inch round pan, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool cake completely (in the pan is fine) on a wire rack before serving.

Serves 10.

Pound Cake

Good morning!

It's beautiful here this morning! 62 degrees right now & I love it!

I saw a delicious looking chocolate pound cake on a website and thought I would make it. It was very tasty; kinda like a brownie, but not quite. The crumb was nice, the cake was moist. As you can see, it did not survive being taken out of the loaf pan! What you will see if you look at the original site is that her cake sunk. My cake sunk too, only i turned mine upside down right away so the sinking is on the bottom. It's a very good cake and certainly worthy of being baked. Next time I bake it I am gonna try baking it in a 8" cake pan.

Anyway, give it a try!

http://allthatsleftarethecrumbs.blogspot.com/2011/03/cake-slice-march-2011-chocolate-cream.html

Bread

Don't you just love a good loaf of bread? MMMMMM! Nothin' beats the smell of baking bread. I baked a delicious loaf of white bread today.

The recipe called for whole wheat flour, but I used all white bread flour. I made white because I hate whole wheat bread. Makes sense, right?

I had to swap out the wheat germ for some grounds pecans. That was a good swap out! :)

Try this bread, you'll like it! It is soft and flavorful. Slathered with some real butter & some raw honey, it can't be beat.The only negative is that the crumb is so coarse.

I tried to get a close up picture so you could see the big holes in the bread. Do you know what causes that?

Here's where you can get the recipe-

http://real-women-cook.blogspot.com/2011/02/honey-whole-wheat-bread-step-by-step.html

Fruit & Nut Bread

Hi, couldn't stay away from the oven! Made some delicious bread today. I did change the add ins because I didn't have the called for ingredients.

Definately try this bread. It is moist and delicious. It's not overly sweet either.

This recipe came from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup candied mixed fruit
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.
Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat smooth. Stir in milk, vanilla, and almond flavoring.
3.
In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in fruit, raisins, and nuts. Add all at once to first bowl. Stir only to moisten. Turn into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
4.
Bake for 1 hour in 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven until it tests done. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool and wrap.

Potato Pie

Have you ever heard of a mashed potato pie?! Am I the only one in the world who thinks that's a disgusting thought? I had visions of another flop. Come on, really, mashed potato pie?!

Surprisingly, the pie turned out fine. I did have to do some substituting. I didn't want to buy booze so substituted lemon juice for the booze and vanilla. I also left out the nutmeg. I hate nutmeg. No nuts either. Frankly, I didn't want to use too many good ingredients just in case it was a flop. I also didn't want to make a pie shell for that reason; so I bought a graham cracker one.

Everything went together fine, I just couldn't get all the lumps out of the pie filling with the mixer.

This pie tastes just like a custard pie. I actually hate custard pies, but my husband likes them and he gave it a thumbs up.

So if you're up for something out of the ordinary, give it a try.

http://havethecake.blogspot.com/2011/02/march-challenge-irish-potato-pie.html

Irish Potato Pierecipe from http://www.almanac.com/recipe/irish-potato-pie Yield: 8 to 10 servings

3 eggs

2 cups half-and-half or light cream

2 cups mashed potatoes (whipped smooth with no lumps) I'm assuming they mean without milk or butter... that's what I did any way.

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Irish whiskey, brandy, or sherry (optional)

1 unbaked 10-inch deep-dish pie shell with high fluted edge

Freshly grated nutmeg

Toasted slivered almonds

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350°F

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs slightly. Stir in the half-and-half or cream, potatoes, sugar, vanilla, salt, and liquor (if using). Beat well until smooth.

Cover the fluted edge of the pie shell with aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning. Pour the filling into the shell and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15 to 18 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle the almonds around the outer edge and dust with additional nutmeg. Serve at room temperature; store in the refrigerator.

Lemon Loaf

Hi!

It's another chilly morning here.

Before I set out to do my errands, I thought I post the loaf I made. They call it a loaf, but I don't know if it's a bread or a cake. Tastes like a combo to me. I didn't care for it. The crumb was kinda coarse. It did bake up into a pretty loaf. The lemon syrup was good though, don't leave that off. The loaf really needs it. You can see in the picture where the syrup had soaked up into the loaf. We did end up eating it all, but we put strawberries in syrup over our slices! Who wouldn't it that!?

That said, I wouldn't make this again.

the recipe is from :http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2011/03/lemon-loaves.html

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
lemon zest from 4 large lemons
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup sour milk (1 teaspoon lemon juice put in a 1 cup measuring cup and filled with milk to 3/4 cup and allowed to sit for 5 minutes)

Lemon Syrup
1/2 sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Lemon Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
the remaining lemon juice and enough water to make a thin glaze

Preheat oven to 350 F and spray two 7 1/2 X 4 X 2 loaf pans with cooking spray and line the bottom and two long sides with parchment paper.

Sift together the dry ingredients onto a piece of parchment paper for quick clean up or into a bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until very light. .several minutes for sure.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined and then the lemon zest.
Combine the wet ingredients and them alternating with the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture until just combined.

Divide the mixture between the two loaf pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.. .about 45 - 50 minutes.
While the cake bakes, simmer the syrup ingredients together for just a minute or so until the sugar melts.

When the toothpick comes out clean of the lemon loaf. Put the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

Brush the syrup over all the sides of the loaves until all the syrup has been used up.
Allow to cool completely and make the glaze while you are waiting.
Drizzle the glaze over the loaves and allow it to set.

Bran Muffins

Hi, hope you're keeping warm. It's cold today! Brrrr!

Had a hankerin' for some muffins so I baked some bran muffins. I had some All Bran cereal I needed to use up. No one likes it for breakfast.

These muffins were supposed to be regular sized, but I made 6 jumbo muffins instead. I think it took about 27 minutes to bake at 375. I was surprised at how little they rose. But that didn't seem to affect the texture. They weren't dense.

They are good. The only change I made in the recipe was that I added 1/2 cup peanut butter chips. It was all I had. I didn't have any dried fruit or I would have put that in.

They turned out fine. Not dry or overly sweet. I would definately make these again.

Enjoy.

classic bran muffins ( from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2.
Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.
3.
Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in raisins and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
4.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Melting Moments

Hi, again.

I've been baking, but not blogging. I keep forgeting to post my items. Today I baked a shortbread cookie called Melting Moments. It is from the website Joyofbaking.com. I love, love, love Mexican wedding cookies so I assumed I'd like these too. Melting moments are not as good. I miss the flavor the ground nuts add. The cookies were very tender and quite crumbly. They are supposed to be rolled in confectioners sugar when they are done baking. I did that with some of them, but wanted to add some flavor in the second batch, so I sprinkled cinnamon on them. That didn't do too much for the cookies. I think I'd stick with the powdered sugar.
Anyway, here's the recipe, but I am not advocating baking these. Stick with the Mexican wedding cookies. They are classics for a reason.



Melting Moments


1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (60 grams) cornstarch (corn flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioners sugar (powdered or icing)
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners sugar (powdered or icing)



In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2 minutes).

Beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.


Cover and refrigerate the batter for an hour or two, or until firm.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.


When batter is firm, form into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart.

Bake for about 10 - 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 3-5 minutes.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack that is placed over a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Put the confectioners sugar in a fine strainer or sieve and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the sugar.


These cookies store very well. Place in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper and they will keep a couple of weeks. If desired, just before serving, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with confectioners sugar.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Romeo & Juliet Cake

Hey, am I the only one who has never heard of a Romeo & Juliet cake? That was the cake for the month of February in the Have the Cake baking group.

I made it, but didn't enjoy it. I thought the cake was tough and the crumb was coarse. Also, it called for guava paste, which in this little Mississippi town, was virtually impossible to find. I had to substitute Smuckers guava jam.

At first I worried about a cake with cheese in it, but there is absolutely no taste of cheese.

I'm sorry to say, I wouldn't bake this cake again.

Here is the recipe I used. It was posted on Have the Cake's blog.


3 large eggs
200g sugar
200g flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp baking powder
20g grated parmesan cheese
200ml milk
40ml oil
Topping
300g goiabada cubed (guava paste)
water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 22cm round pan. Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat the eggs with sugar for 10 minutes in high speed. Beat for more 2 minutes in slow speed. Fold in the sifted ingredients. Mix in 1/4 of batter the oil. Fold in the remaining batter and mix the grated parmesan.
Spoon into the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Cover with goiabada.
Topping
Melt the goiabada with water. Let boil, stirring until reduce. Let cool slightly and cover the cake.
Serve: 8 portions.

february challenge

RECIPE and ABOVE PIC FROM TALITHA"S BLOG
3 large eggs
200g sugar
200g flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp baking powder
20g grated parmesan cheese
200ml milk
40ml oil
Topping
300g goiabada cubed (guava paste)
water

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 22cm round pan. Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Set aside.Beat the eggs with sugar for 10 minutes in high speed. Beat for more 2 minutes in slow speed. Fold in the sifted ingredients. Mix in 1/4 of batter the oil. Fold in the remaining batter and mix the grated parmesan.Spoon into the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Cover with goiabada.ToppingMelt the goiabada with water. Let boil, stirring until reduce. Let cool slightly and cover the cake.Serve: 8 portions.

Let them eat cake!

Hi, girls,

It's no wonder I'm as big as a house! Here I go baking again & we still have applesauce bread to eat!

But you know how it is when you want something chocolate...

This is a nice, basic cake. To me, it tastes better with the powdered sugar on top. I would definitely recommend some type of frosting. It is good enough to make again. :)

The recipe is from "mad hungry". She is connected with Martha Stewart.

Anyway, enjoy.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup cold water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking pan, whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and coarse salt.

2. Make a well in center of flour mixture and add vegetable oil, pure vanilla extract, white vinegar, and cold water. Whisk until well combined. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Applesauce Nut Bread

Last night I baked this loaf of quick bread. The recipe is from bakingbites.com. It turned out great! I followed the recipe with only minor tweaks - I threw in 1/4 leftover crushed pineapples I had sitting in the fridge ,added 1 tea vanilla & changed it to 1 tea cinnamon.

The bread browns pretty quickly, so when the top was brown enough for me, I layed a piece of foil on top of it. Also, the directions say to lightly grease pan, which I did. Next time I will spray (Pam) it a little more. The bread tried desperately to stick to the pan. After I ran a knife around the edges, it came out.

I will keep this as a good go to bread recipe. I think it could be quite versatile. It's sturdy & moist. I liked it. Hope you do too.

Applesauce Nut Bread

6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
coarse sugar, for topping

No need to preheat the oven, just lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch baking pan (not a 9×5).In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the applesauce.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. By hand, or with a mixer on low speed, beat flour mixture into applesauce mixture. Stir in toasted nuts and pour into prepared pan. Top with coarse sugar, if desired.Place pan in a cold oven and turn oven on to 350F.Bake for 80-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the loaf is browned.Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 1 loaf.

Bagels - January Project

I am so excited to be a part of this baking group!!

http://havethecake.blogspot.com/

For my bagels I used the recipe found at bakingbites.com. Although I followed the recipe as written, I was very disappointed with the results. They certainly are no threat to the local Jewish deli!!

I was looking for that crispy outside & chewy inside. These did not have that. Sadly, there was no crispy outside.